The "Broken" Body

It is not uncommon to hear Christians speak of the Lord’s “broken” body. Some do this out of tradition and are just repeating what they have heard many times before, while others sincerely believe that it is biblical language. They would point to 1 Corinthians 11:24 in the King James Version, where we read, “This is my body, which is broken for you.” Either way, a deeper dive into the scriptures will show that the Lord’s body was not broken.

While the word “broken” is found in the KJV, it is missing from many other translations, including the ASV, ESV, NIV, HCSB, and NASB. They say, “This is my body, which is for you.” Notice that those versions omit “broken.” That is because the word is not found in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts. For instance, Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament says that the inclusion of the term in the KJV “is clearly not genuine” and adds, “As a matter of fact the body of Jesus was not broken (John 19:36). The bread was broken, but not the body of Jesus” (IV, p. 164).

Robertson hit on the major reason why we should not say that the Lord’s body was “broken,” and that is because scripture emphatically declares that none of His bones were broken (John 19:33-36). In fact, His body had to be unbroken to fulfill the prophecy John was quoting in that text (Psalm 34:20).

We also need to remember that Jesus is “our Passover lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:7) and according to scripture, the Passover lamb could not have any of its bones broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). Hence, Jesus was the unbroken lamb without spot or blemish.

I know that all Christians want to speak truth. We desire to use words that are scripturally accurate. Therefore, I hope this article helps in our quest to do that. The Lord’s body was never broken!